WELCOME TO 2008 . . . AND, UHHH, GOODBYE TO 2007 I GUESS

Ok, I'm not really much of a fan of memes. But since I post about once per season lately and I have the day off anyhow, might as well give it a swing. This one come from Toast, over at Two Glasses, who tagged "everyone who reads this." Yes, that's what it's come to in this era of non-blogging from yours truly. As if anyone in the whole B-sphere would think of me at this point. Sheesh.

Anyhoo, here's the meme. Seems to be a looking back as you look forward thing, or something like that:

1. What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before? Enjoy my job.

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I never make New Year's resolutions, but in an effort to make this meme mildly entertaining, I'll Fictionalize a bit.

I resolved to have sex with Shakira and Audrey Tatou. I kept one of those resolutions (Audrey -- she purred oui, oui throughout; that means something good in French, no?). This year I resolve to sleep with the other one (si, si.)

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes, many. At least two wives of former work colleagues. A few blogger friends' wives too.

4. Did anyone close to you die? No. "Testicular Fortitude Of The Democratic Party" and I aren't close anymore, so his death hardly phased me.

5. What places did you visit? Lot of work-related travel this year: Birmingham AL (8 times), Boston, New Hope PA, Dallas, San Francisco (twice) & L.A. Also changed planes in Atlanta & Cincinnati a couple times, but that doesn't count, does it?

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007? A vacation.

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? March 22: absolutely nailed the second round interview at my current law firm; I knew I had it at that moment. Frankly, I doubt that date'll "remain etched" anywhere, let alone in my mind. But it was pretty significant this year, so I'll roll with it.

Oh, nearly forgot: August 9, the date I consummated my New Year's resolution. It was her 29th birthday. I'm such a sweet guy.

8. What was your biggest achievement(s) of the year? See August 9. That, and actually enjoying work. I know that sounds nuts, but what can I say. I've never done too well on that front.

9. What was your biggest failure? Not being able to maintain regular blogging from about mid-year. I don't blame myself, nor do I regret it -- work was just too time consuming & required a lot of energy -- but it's too bad that's how it went.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Nagging cold last month. Pissed me off.

11. What was the best thing you bought? I-pod, baby. I-pod! 5,300 songs later, and that bitch is humming. Love it.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Mine.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Oooooo, do they really want me to go there? Hmmm, let's allow for a truncated list: The Mets, the Congressional Democrats, George Bush (duh!). Making this list is appalling & depressing, so no more of that.

14. Where did most of your money go? No one category stands out. A lot of it went into the bank. We've been trying to save, save, save.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? I just turned 40 and I've been married for 8 1/2 years. Nothing gets me "really, really, really excited."

16. What song will always remind you of 2007? Hmmm, good question. This answer may be a bit of a preview for question 26 below, but here goes nonetheless: "Judy & The Dream Of Horses," by Belle & Sebastian. It was the first song that came on the I-pod just after a bit of very relieving news from my wife's doctor. No details (sorry), but it was a great moment for me. And that song -- which I like in its own right -- was the soundtrack as I walked, spring-stepped, down the street in the moments that followed.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) Happier or sadder? Not necessarily "happier," but definitely more satisfied with where I'm at. See question c below.
b) thinner or fatter? Same.
c) richer or poorer? Richer.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Blogging.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Drinking.

20. How did you spend Christmas last year? Last year? Meaning 7 days ago, or 2006? As to the latter, I have no idea. 7 days ago? You know, I have no idea either. Maybe I'm inviting the lighting bolts, but the birthday of Our Savior is just another day in the middle of a bunch of days off for this blaspheming Jew. I think I stayed in and watched DVDs.

21. Did you fall in love in 2007? Yeah, right.

22. How many one-night stands? Yeah, right.

23. What was your favorite TV program? Does "baseball" count?

24. What did you do for your birthday in 2007? Got drunk with co-workers in New Hope PA following an all-day meeting with our expert witness in an under-heated barn on his sprawling farm. Beautiful, but cold. Excellent dinner though.

25. What was the best book you read? "East Of Eden." I've read it before, but I picked it up again over the Thanksgiving weekend. Just great.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery? A lot this year. With the I-pod at my disposal now, I borrowed a shitload of music from former Neighborhood regular, Applesaucer (lately, every "regular" is a former regular). I really helped him supplement his collection with "classics" of rock & jazz. But he lent me a bunch of stuff from that post-1998 period that I all-but-missed due to the twin distractions of marriage & law school/law career. Not saying I never listened to music after that point, but I went from fanatic to normal person. Anyhow, lots of new stuff, but the three biggest were/are Of Montreal, Neutral Milk Hotel, and the aforementioned Belle & Sebastian. Rumors that I've been reborn as a 19 year-old college girl are only half true.

27. What did you want and get? I-pod. A good job.

28. What did you want and not get? Daily sex from my wife. Daily sex from the other three billion women on earth. A salary of six million dollars . . . a week. Otherwise, we're cool.

29. What was your favorite film of this year? Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. Just saw it yesterday and I loved it. Funny & clever, which is hard to do. For any music history geek, it's a must.

30. Did you make some new friends this year? Hmmm, most of my "blog friendships" arose in 2006, so that doesn't really count. And I made a few "work friends." Time will tell if those have any legs.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? See question 28.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007? Are you fucking kidding me?

33. What kept you sane? Isn't there an unfounded assumption built into that question?

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Since "fancy" has multiple definitions, I'm going with this one because it makes for a more interesting answer: "3 a: to believe mistakenly or without evidence b: to believe without being certain"

I'm going to say "The American Press." As in, "I fancied we had an active press in this country."

35. What political issue stirred you the most? Ugh, too many to go into. Let's use the previous answer.

36. Who did you miss? My blogging friends (awwwwwwwwwwwww).

37. Who was the best new person you met? Some new colleagues at work could qualify, but I'm not sure yet.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007. That it's important to tag George, Comandante Agi, and Ded.